Seahawks: 5 takeaways from a division-clinching win

3 of 5

Dec 15, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls (34) rushes against the Los Angeles Rams during the fourth quarter at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated Los Angeles, 24-3. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Seattle’s running game is dead

Thomas Rawls led the entire NFL with 5.6 yards per carry last season. This season, he was averaging only 4.1 yards per carry before tonight, and that numbers is about to plummet.

Tonight was even worse than it looked for Seattle’s ground game. Rawls finished with 21 carries for only 34 yards, which is an average of only 1.6 yard per carry. That’s fairly pedestrian against the 18th ranked rush defense.

The thing is, that isn’t a slight on Rawls. He is still running hard and fighting for every possible yard. There just aren’t a lot of yards for him to get.

Every time he got the ball he was dodging guys in the backfield. Sometimes he made them miss and got back to the line of scrimmage. Sometimes he didn’t have that chance.

Thomas Rawls had -10 yards before contact tonight, 42 yards after contact
— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) December 16, 2016

Like it or not, the Seahawks no longer have a viable running game. As a team, they’ll go only as far as Russell Wilson will carry them.

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